Akshat Ajay Sharma’s rather generic ‘Haddi’, on ZEE5, isn’t a bad watch, but its main achievement is to serve as an example of ‘campy arthouse masala’

Spoilers ahead…

When you hear of a film with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Anurag Kashyap and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Ila Arun and Vipin Sharma in it, your mind thinks a certain way about what lies ahead. You think of something that’s going to exist in the artier end of the mainstream spectrum. And the opening portions of Akshat Ajay Sharma’s do hint at that zone. Over a visual of a big, fat knife being washed clean of blood, we hear Nawazuddin’s voice (he plays a transwoman): “Our blessing is powerful, our curse is fearsome, and our revenge is terrifying.” I have translated this bit, and English is a cooler language temperature-wise, but in Nawazuddin’s measured drawl, the words used in the line – ““, ““, “” – sting like a whiplash.

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galatta.com/hindi/movie/review/haddi/

And you can watch the trailer / video review here:

Copyright ©2023 GALATTA.